Concert Review: Story of the Year Performing The Black Swan
Friday, August 20, 2021 at Delmar Hall in St. Louis
If you’ve never seen Story of the Year live, you’re missing out. They are one of the best bands I’ve ever seen live to this day, which is saying a lot considering they’ve been performing for almost 20 years. The next time they’re in your town, go see them — you won’t regret it.
This was the second show in a series of three performances. The concerts were rescheduled numerous times due to the pandemic. It worked out for me, as I wouldn’t have been able to go the original dates because my son was born two weeks early.
The show was worth the wait. The Wild and Free started things off, and despite issues with the lead singer’s mic, they sounded great. It was my second time seeing them perform and they have become one of my favorite bands from the STL area.
Next up was Discrepancies, a rap/rock band from St. Louis that makes me nostalgic for Linkin Park. This was my third time seeing them, and they just keep getting better. They have some heavy-hitting songs, both lyrically and musically, juxtaposed with songs that rely more on crowd engagement. That, coupled with the enthusiasm of the bassist, Garrett Weakley, makes them a powerful and entertaining band to see live.
Story of the Year put on a fun and energetic show, as they always do. It was interesting to see them play in a smaller venue (in years past, they usually play — and sell out — The Pageant in St. Louis).
I really got into Story of the year and their music after The Black Swan was released, and I saw them for the first time on that album’s tour. So this was a meaningful show for me. I loved hearing those songs live, and they feel as relevant today as they 15 years ago.
They’ve discussed this album and several of the songs on their Page Avenue Crew podcast. Frontman Dan Marsala has explained he doesn’t feel the same connection to these songs as he did back then and that he wouldn’t write politically charged songs like that today.
Although I can certainly understand, I personally think we need more music like this in 2021 than we did back then. Still, many of the lyrics resonate and feel applicable to the current state of the US, particularly Apathy is a Deathwish.
After playing The Black Swan front to back and a couple b-side tracks, they played a few popular songs for Page Avenue and In the Wake of Determination. I have to admit, I’ve seen Story of the Year so many times, I tend to get tired of seeing them play Until the Day I Die and Anthem of Our Dying Day. But those are arguably their most popular songs, and I think after the year and a half of a pandemic and no live music, everyone was just so happy to be at a show that none of that mattered.
Marsala did joke on stage that if people were going to take videos during the show to record a different song because he gets tired of seeing those same songs posted over and over, which I thought was hilarious (and, same).
The band is working on a new album and based on what they’ve said on the podcast/social media, it sounds like they’re trying some new things (working with outside songwriters, etc). I’m excited to hear the impact of this on their new music.
If you want to support the band and get updates on their upcoming music, you can join their Patreon and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
